Fernando Benitez Alvarez del Castillo, the defense attorney of Andrew Tahmooressi, a U.S. Marine sergeant who has been in a Mexican prison since March 31 on weapons charges, will represent his client for the first time on July 9.

Benitez was hired by Jill Tahmooressi, Andrew Tahmooressi's mother, and is the marine's third attorney in the case. Andrew was arrested by Mexican authorities on March 31 and sent to Tijuana's La Mesa State Prison after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in a truck with three registered firearms: a shotgun, a .45 caliber pistol and an AR-15. The marine claims he crossed the border by mistake as he made a wrong turn because there wasn't clear labeling. Andrew was charged with possession of weapons and ammunition used by the Mexican military and faces about 10 years in prison, Benitez said.

"This is a federal court, and as in any democratic nation you will not find an executive calling up a judge and ordering the release of a suspect," Benitez told Fox News on June 27. "It makes no difference if it is a mayor, governor or the president. There's not a phone call in the world that will change this."

According to Fox News, some have requested that President Barack Obama personally ask Mexico President Enrique Peña Nieto for Andrew's release. However, Benitez said he believes that the only diplomatic way to free Andrew is to conduct a prisoner exchange with Mexico, but the lawyer is not interested.

"There are agreements in place between the U.S. and Mexico for such things and have been done in the past, but why would you want to take back convicted criminals from another country?" Benitez said.

Despite the longstanding circumstance, Benitez reportedly defended Mexico's legal system.

"We've always had a presumption of innocence," Benitez said. "The whirlwind of media attention is well and fine, but no evidence has even been presented."

Benitez plans on talking human rights violations in his defense of Andrew.

"He was held at the port of entry for seven hours with no translator or knowledge of what was going on," he said. "There were so many issues to be raised before he even saw the prosecutor."

Andrew was transferred to El Hongo Federal Penitentiary after an incident where he tried to escape by climbing the prison wall and another when he hurt himself with a light bulb in his special cell.
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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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